Before the Fall, Vic keeps a trucking operation running. It is difficult, unglamorous work. He is good at it. He is less certain that the rest of his life has much left to offer.

Then the world comes apart—and knowing how things work becomes a matter of life and death.

American Warlord, Kurt Schlichter’s new novel, follows a man who never expected to lead anyone into battle. To protect the people who come to depend on him, he will have to learn. Surviving is only the beginning. They need something worth surviving for.

You can see the man he might become before the Fall, when one of his drivers is trapped in a riot. The driver has a gun. Vic would rather get him home alive than defend a load of televisions.